Focusing on the negative is when you look for negatives in a situation and focus on them.
Disqualifying the positive is either recognizing the postives yourself or via another person then disqualifying them like they are not important. In other words, many depressed individuals give their negative thoughts much more power then their positive thoughts.
Cognitive Distortions are inaccurate thoughts or distorted negative thoughts that can lead to and perpetuate Depression and/or anxiety. Challenging these thoughts is a big part of Cognitive Behavior Therapy which is what this program is based on.
Cognitive Distortions are discussed in depth in Session 4. For those of you who have had some time examining your cognitive distortions feel free to post your questions and comments here.
What cognitive distortions have you identified in your thinking? What challenges have you faced addressing them? What has helped you change them?
As a review here are the names of the cognitive distortions we discuss in the program:
